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July 17, 2013

MEDHU VADAI RECIPE (WITH VIDEO) | ULUNDU VADAI

I have already posted urad dal vada with pepper. In that post i have mentioned the different methods used to shape vadas.By seeing that post many of my friends mailed & asked me to post a video on how to grind the vada batter using mixie & how to shape vada using a sheet and some easy tips to identify the consistency of batter..I was hesitant in the beginning whether i could do this and i wanted somebody to help me taking the video. Recently my in-laws visited my place and with the help of my MIL i took this video by keeping beginners in mind.The batter yield will not be good when we grind in mixie as compared to grinder.But i am sure u’ll get the taste & crispness equal to grinder batter…Please bear the mistakes in this video as this is my first attempt. I hope i can do it better in future & update here.I am also a beginner and i am still in the learning and experimenting phase.Most of us miss the batter consistency adding more water. So i have tried to give the exact water quantity i used .The quantity of water slightly differs as per the quality of urad dal.So keep this video as reference and adjust the water quantity.I have also given some tips in the “Note” section to adjust the consistency of batter if it is watery.Experts,please excuse and do share ur tips in the comments section ..
Recently i had vada for breakfast in AAB. I found jeera , pepper corns , onions and curry leaves . So i too started making in that way as my husband loves pepper more than onions. Here i have mentioned pepper & jeera in the ingredients list. For poojas & festivals we add only pepper.. Add onions alone or both onion & pepper as per ur wish.But remember to add onions just before frying vada else onions will leave water and make the batter watery. Always keep the batter refrigerated till use.No problem if one or two tsp of water goes extra. Batter will thicken if u refrigerate it. If u find the batter too watery , add few tsp of rice flour to make it thick & to make a proper shaped vada . But u should serve it hot . Otherwise vadas won’t be crispy in room temperature.Also if u add less water to grind the batter , vada will be hard. If u add the correct water & grind the batter , vada will stay crispy even after it cools down . Vada won’t drink much of oil if the batter is right. My MIL used to add a tsp of toor dal while soaking urad dal to avoid oil absorption. Beginners can follow this method.Some people soak little raw rice along with urad dal or add a tsp of rice flour to the batter. All these are not necessary if u grind the batter in right consistency..
Ok friends , let me know ur comments if u try this method. Good luck
Don't forget to check out my latest post with video about medhu vadai recipe using grinder

Water – 1/3 cup + 1 tsp (adjust as per the quality of urad dal , start with 1/4 cup of water & increase gradually)

Rice flour - 1 tsp

To mix in the batter

Small onion/ Big onion – 15 nos / 2 nos

Curry leaves – Few

Pepper corns – 1 tsp

Jeera – 1/4 tsp

Asafetida / hing – 2-3 generous pinches

Salt - as needed

METHOD

Wash and soak urad dal for 1 hour and keep it inside the fridge( refrigerator).After soaking, drain all the water completely and keep in a bowl. Use this water for grinding the batter.Choose a bigger sized mixie jar to hold the urad dal batter.( jar should be double the size of batter).

Then add the urad dal without water and grind for few seconds till it becomes a coarse paste.

Now add 1/3 cup of water and grind for a minute till smooth. Open the jar , wipe the sides & check the batter. .

If it is slightly coarse , add 1 more tsp of water.( Always add in tsp further).. Again grind & check the consistency. Batter should be thick, fluffy n smooth. When u drop the batter , it will slide slowly & it will form a stiff peak. One more tip is,drop a small quantity of batter in a bowl of water.It will float on top.Remove the batter & add some water to the jar, run the mixie once. Use this water for dipping ur hands while u deep fry vadas.

1/4 cup is the minimum quantity of water needed to grind the batter. It differs based on the urad dal. But after adding 1/3 cup , add water in tsp and check the batter every now & then. Please don’t add too much of water.

If u add more water,vada will drink more oil.To avoid oil absorption,u can add 1/2 tsp of toor dal along with urad dal while soaking.

The quantity of batter may not be more as u get in grinder. In grinder, we get batter for 25 medium sized vadas .In mixie , u can make 12-15 vadas.

Vada will absorb more oil if u deep fry in low heat oil.Heat of the oil should be right. It should not be smoky. If u deep fry when the oil is too hot , vada will brown quickly but the inside portion will not be cooked .

For proper cooking , always check the heat of oil by dropping a bit of batter. If it rises immediately , oil is in the correct temperature.

Adjust the flame to high and medium high while deep frying.

Deep fry in medium low flame for long time to get crispier vadas.For onion vada , u should remove the vada when the onions turn golden brown.For pepper vada , remove it when the sound ceases & turns golden brown.

Shaping of vada comes only by practice. Start using a sheet for shaping. Then u can make it directly using ur hands.